2003 Honda CR-V problems
Owners have filed 581 complaints with NHTSA about the 2003 Honda CR-V. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 22% of complaints. Next are electrical system (11%) and engine (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 581 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 22% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 56 and 29
- Injuries and deaths
- 44 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 74,000 miles 416 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 83 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 32 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 51 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 60 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 48 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 39 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 38 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 26 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 18 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 9 |
| 200k+ miles | 12 |
What the data shows
Of the 416 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 74,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 104,000 miles (51 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 56 complaints mention a crash; 29 complaints mention a fire; 44 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 20th most-complained-about out of 30 model years of the Honda CR-V with enough data (228 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 13 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
I owned a 2003 honda cr-v that was purchased from the local honda dealer(honda windward) october 2003. On the 11th of this month of january 2004, while operating the vehicle, the car suffered a fire that totaled out the car. I managed to get out in time, suffering only a twisted knee.
I got over to the edge of the road to avoid hitting a animal, and hit a small rock (with front passenger tire) and then subsequently had a spontaneous deployment and rupture of my passenger airbag, then my driver airbag deployed. A fire then came from the passenger airbag, with lots of dust in the air. I could not understand why a very small bump triggered the airbags and was shocked by the first, I was able to put out the fire but experienced minor burns on my middle finger and thumb on my right hand, I could…
After rear ending another vehicle 50 at MPH front air bags did not deploy. Driver and passenger sustained minor injuries. Honda was notified but did not resolve the problem.
Car pulls to right, was somewhat corrected 18 months later, but shop overcorrected the fix and now it drifts to the left. Pulls to the right upon acceleration.
Both low beam headlights stopped working at the same time. Took car to dealer, they replaced wire plug at head light switch and replaced head light switch. They said plastic part had melted. Updated 05/02/11 updated ivoq 05/04/11